


Chocolate Cakes and Forgotten Mistakes

by AniPendragon



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Revenge of the Sith Never Happened, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 02:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5565772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AniPendragon/pseuds/AniPendragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At ten years old, Luke is plagued by nightmares of a world that no longer exists - and never will, thanks to his Uncle Obi-Wan. But when the nightmares get to be too much, Luke's father gives him comfort in the form of chocolate cake and a sympathetic ear. Together, maybe they can conquer those nightmares once and for all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chocolate Cakes and Forgotten Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> Before you ask, yes, I am well aware this isn't my usual fare of story.

_The red lightsaber loomed overhead, moving impossibly fast while seemingly not moving at all. He scrambled back from the figure in black on his hands and feet. Stared up at the figure that was a man and also not a man while he moved. His hands wiped around to try and find his own blade, but they came up empty._

_The metal floor grated his skin. The harsh lighting seemed to grow dimmer with every second until all he could see was that lightsaber. It rose high into the air, held aloft by the figure – a man or a monster? – and he knew, in that instant, that the figure wanted him dead. That the lightsaber would come down and strike him._

_And it did. It hummed through the air and came for his face. He threw up his hands and screamed…_

A shrill scream pierced the air of the bedroom. Luke shot upright, tears slipping down his cheeks and hands fisting the sheets around him. He looked desperately for the figure in black in his bedroom. His head swivelled from side to side as he stared into the darkest corners with wide eyes.

He took a deep breath and turned on his lamp. Repeated the mantra he had for the last week.

"My name is Luke Skywalker," he said in a tiny voice. "I am ten years old. I live on Coruscant with my mom, my dad, and my sister. There is no monster. I am safe." He put his head in his hands and took a few more breaths. "I am safe."

Slowly, the shadows in his mind receded, but they did not vanish. They hadn't since he'd first had the dream, almost two months ago. But this was the first time he'd gotten to the end. The first time he'd woken himself up screaming.

"I am safe." The words were hollow as he said them. Their sound died in the corners of his room still cloaked in shadow.

The door to his room opened and soft, golden light spilled in through the doorway. Luke raised his hand from his face to see his father leaning against the doorway. He was shirtless, something Luke didn't see often, and the scar tissue that connected to his arm and his prosthetic hand seemed red and irritated. He tried to focus on that instead of the look of concern that darkened his father's expression.

"Hey," said his dad, softly. Luke was appreciative of that much, at least. His dad never made him talk when he didn't want to, even if his dad had no idea what had started the nightmares. Then again, neither did Luke.

"Hi," said Luke, his voice still tiny and hoarse from screaming. His dad crossed the room and settled on the end of his bed. He reached up and rested a hand on Luke's legs, slowly rubbing through the blankets. Luke focused on the warmth of the hand, on the comfort of the gesture.

The red lightsaber and the figure in black flashed behind his eyes. He whimpered and pressed his fists into his face, trying to push out the images that threatened to overwhelm his psyche every time he let his guard down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked his dad, voice soft with concern. Luke didn't dare look up at him, for fear of bursting into tears and confessing everything.

"No." _Yes._

Something brushed his mind. Impossibly gentle and relaxing. The tendril curled around the shadows of his present thoughts and squeezed them. For a few moments, at least, they were gone.

Luke chanced looking up at his father, who had the same faraway look he always had when he was using the Force.

"Sorry," murmured his father, but he didn't sound it, just concerned.

Luke frowned, blinked hard, and said, "That was you?" he asked.

His father nodded and rubbed his legs some more. His gaze took on a faraway look again, but this one was of memory, not the Force. The differences were miniscule, but Luke knew them well. He'd spent a lot of time asking his father about the Force and the powers therein.

"Obi-Wan used to do that a lot, after my mother died," said his father, slowly. "It doesn't hurt and it doesn't change anything, but it lets you get back to sleep."

Luke eyed the shadows in the corner of his room. Despite the lamp and the light spilling in from the hall, those shadows remained. He pulled his blanket closed to his chin and scooted closer to his dad. For a moment, the red returned to the shadows, but a quick shake of his head got rid of it.

"I don't want to go back to sleep," said Luke. There was a tightness in his voice he didn't want to explain. A fear that he didn't want to talk to his dad about. He didn't know why. Didn't understand why. But the nightmares terrified him. They drove him to insomnia and to screaming and to squinting at the corners of his room until all he wanted to do was cry or scream or maybe just fall into a coma.

People didn't dream in comas, did they?

"All right," said his dad. He reached up and brushed Luke's bangs back from his face. "Let's get a treat then."

Luke blinked. "A treat?" he echoed.

His dad nodded and stood up. He held out his hand to Luke, which Luke took. Together, the two padded, barefoot, out of Luke's room, down the hall, and to their kitchen. Luke's dad dug through the fridge for something, while Luke climbed up onto the kitchen island stools.

He glanced backward as his dad worked away in the fridge. The floor to ceiling windows in their living room, behind him, showed the Coruscant skyline. Even in the middle of the night, the planet was bustling with activity. Speeders flew by far below, shops and apartments were lit up across the skyline, and one of the few downtown areas Luke could see was lit up in strobe lights and flashing signs.

There was a huge party going on at one of those clubs tonight, Luke remembered. Master Quinlan Vos had told him last time he was at the Temple. He remembered how... – what was the word? Oh, right – _exasperated_ – Uncle Obi-Wan had looked. How Master Vos had stopped talking pretty quickly after that. It was kind of funny, Luke thought, how even though Uncle Obi-Wan was Grand Master of the Order, only that one look of his ever got Master Vos to pay attention and listen to him.

"Ta-da!" said Luke's dad, drawing Luke's attention from the window and his memories to the time at hand. Luke turned back around in his stool just in time for his dad to set down a thick slice of warm, gooey chocolate cake in front of him. Luke eyed the slice – which was almost as big as his head – with confusion.

A fork dropped into his vision, held aloft by his father. Luke looked up to his father holding a plate of his own and grinning in a way Uncle Obi-Wan called his "I've got a bad feeling about this" look.

Luke took the fork, eyes still narrowed. His dad sat down next to him on another stool and dug into his cake.

"Are you sure we're allowed to eat cake in the middle of the night?" asked Luke.

His dad shrugged. "What your mother doesn't know won't hurt her," said his dad, simply. He took another bite of his cake.

Luke gave his dad a flat look. One most people said he'd inherited from his mother. "Dad," said Luke.

His dad looked up from his cake, chocolate already smeared across his lips and chin. "What?" he asked with a full mouth.

"Mom knows we have cake," Luke pointed out.

His dad sighed and put down his fork. He said, "So I'll buy another one or tell her I ate it all. It's fine, Luke, I promise you won't get in trouble." He picked his fork back up and fiddled with it. Luke watched with curious eyes. Was his dad… nervous? Upset?

"Nightmares are an awful thing," said his dad. His voice had gone low and serious, like it did when he talked about battles during the Clone Wars or his time on Tattooine. "No one should have to deal with them alone. And while I respect that you don't want to talk to me about them, I also don't understand it." He shrugged. "But cake always helped me when I had bad ones, so I thought it might help you too. And, well, your mom would kill me if I took you to Dexter's at four in the morning."

Luke took a bite of the cake. The gooey chocolate melted on his tongue. It was rich and creamy and thick – all the things cake should be.

"You got cake at Dexter's?" asked Luke, taking another bite. He swallowed around it so that he wouldn't have to talk with his mouth full.

His dad nodded and laughed. "Believe it or not, Dexter made a great cake for the longest time," he said. He was almost halfway through his own oversized slice now. "But it's not exactly kid appropriate at four in the morning."

"Why not?" asked Luke, raising an eyebrow. He went to stuff another slice of cake into his mouth, while looking at his dad instead of his fork, and it jammed into his cheek instead.

His dad laughed, a quiet but boisterous thing that Luke couldn't help but grin back at. The images of the red lightsaber and the black figure had all but vanished from his mind. Here, in the warm lighting of their kitchen and with the laughter of his father surrounding him, Luke couldn't help but be happy. Couldn't help but revel in the peace and prosperity that covered the Grand Republic.

His Uncle Obi-Wan and his Dad ran the Order together. His mom and Uncle Bail ran the Senate. Everything was peaceful and perfect.

Except for his dreams.

Luke's fork stilled on his plate. Unbidden, the images of the red lightsaber returned. The humming filled his ears until it was all he could hear. Luke fell from the stool and onto his knees. He clapped his hands over his ears to block out the humming whoosh of the lightsaber. To block out the laughter of the figure that chased him.

 _Man or monster?_ That was no question. The figure was a monster. Nothing else could be so cruel. There was no reasoning with such a thing.

"Luke!" Faintly, Luke heard a voice from faraway. _He saw the figure rise up once more to strike him down. Saw lightning race across the figure's body as it dropped to the ground. The lightsaber rolled from its hands. Luke scurried backward._

"Luke!" _Another shout, this one closer. But it was overlapped by another voice – this one much deeper than before._

"Luke…" _Luke reached toward the mask of the figure with shaking hands. Something called him toward it. Something that wanted him to believe the figure was not a monster. That it was a person. And suddenly, he had to know which – or was it who? – it was._

"Luke!" The last shout brought him out of it. He blinked hard a few times and found tears were slipping freely down his cheeks. He was no longer in the kitchen, but instead wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, his father holding him tightly.

"Dad?" whimpered Luke, curling closer to him.

His dad stroked his arm, humming a lullaby.

"Are you okay?" his dad asked.

Luke shook his head. "I saw him again."

"Saw who?"

"The monster," said Luke, tightly. "He was dressed in all black and he wore a mask and he had a red lightsaber. He tried to kill me. And there was _lightning_." Luke felt his father tense. And, as he did, Luke wondered why he'd finally told his father about the nightmares. What they were and why they scared him. But he'd known it would upset his father – though he didn't know why – so Luke had never said a word. Until now. But he had to. He simply couldn't deal with them alone.

His shoulders weren't big enough to carry such a burden.

"Oh, Luke," said his dad in a forlorn voice. It was the kind of voice that reminded Luke that there was a lot he didn't understand. And the kind of voice that told him his father wasn't telling him something.

His dad's grip tightened on him, pulling him closer.

"I promise," said his father, in a fierce voice. "I promise that, so long as I am alive, that monster will never hurt you. Okay?"

Luke turned slightly so he could press his face into his father's chest.

"Okay?" asked his dad again.

Luke nodded. There was a lot he didn't understand, but he did understand that his dad would do anything to protect him. He'd never broken that promise before and he didn't think his dad was about to start.

"Okay," said Luke.

And, together, the two fell into an uneasy, but thankfully dreamless, sleep on the couch. Tomorrow they would deal with Luke's dreams. But for tonight, both were just happy to be alive and safe, as father and son.


End file.
